Up for an Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film in the 2014 Academy Awards, “Ernest & Celestine” is the beautiful tale of a forbidden friendship between a an enormous bear and a minuscule mouse.

This French and Belgian film is based upon a children’s book series of the same name, which is written and illustrated by Gabrielle Vincent.

Ernest is a starving and food-deprived bear who lives on the surface world, while Celestine is a young mouse who lives in the underworld below.

In the underground world of mice, the rodents travel to the world above to collect lost teeth from young bear cubs that put them underneath their pillows. The cubs’ teeth are then used to replace the teeth lost by mice.

It is expected of Celestine that she becomes a dentist like the rest of her peers, but what she really enjoys is creating artwork.

Since she is so behind on collecting teeth for her internship at the dentistry, she needs to go to the world above to collect 50 teeth to catch up.

During her journey to the world above, she unexpectedly meets Ernest the bear who stumbles across her while looking for food in a trash can.

Upon discovering Celestine, Ernest nearly devours her before Celestine convinces him that it’s in his best interests not to.

From then on, it is the start of an unexpected journey and friendship between Ernest and Celestine. It also marks the beginning of trouble for the two of them.

“Ernest & Celestine” brings everything you want from an animated film to the table. It is funny, cute, emotional and exciting.

The only problem with the movie is that it is not yet available in English. If you do not have a problem reading subtitles, I would check out this film as soon as possible.

An English-dubbed version will soon premiere in the United States in select theatres in the cities of Los Angeles and New York. It is expected to be released on DVD and Blu-ray later this year.

Although it is well-deserving of an Academy Award, “Ernest & Celestine” will have some stiff competition this year. Other nominees for Best Animated Feature Film include “Frozen,” “The Croods,” “Despicable Me 2” and “The Wind Rises.”

Whichever version you decide to watch and whenever you decide watch it, you won’t be disappointed. This film is a must-see, especially if you are a fan of animated films.

4.5/5